The subject matter disclosed herein relates to actuators for aircraft systems. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to deployment mechanisms for linear actuators.
Aircraft include many systems activated and/or controlled by actuators. One such system is a Ram Air Turbine (RAT). The ram air turbine is a turbine utilized to generate emergency power for the aircraft in the case of a loss of primary power. The ram air turbine is typically stowed inside the aircraft fuselage or wing, and is only deployed as needed. The ram air turbine is held in the stowed position by a locked linear actuator, and when the actuator is unlocked, the actuator extends to deploy the ram air turbine. During operation of an actuator 100 as shown in FIG. 4, if friction is too high, locking pawls 102 remain at piston rod 104 rather than moving radially inwardly to allow inner cylinder 106 axially past the locking pawls 102 into a deployed position. An apparatus to ensure deployment of the actuator would be well received in the art.